Holden Cruze Problems

With the age of the car and the fact that it is out of warranty, you're largely in the hands of Holden and their willingness to cover repairs out of "good will". I would press the company to come good with a repair to the transmission cooler on the same basis of good will. The oil leak is another matter, I wouldn't bother to seek a good will payment for that, it's too minor a problem to be bothered with. Just fix it.

I agree with you, it should have been replaced earlier, and under warranty. The automatic transmission in the Cruze has a troubled history, as we have consistently reported. Present your dealer with your car's history of failure and make a formal request that the transmission be replaced at no cost to you. If the dealer won't agree take your case directly to Holden's Customer Care service (Ph: 1800 033 349).

Go to a different mechanic, one who can pull the gearbox out, dismantle it and find out what's causing the problem. It's not a problem we have had reported to us before.

I couldn't recommend either one, both have issues with their transmissions as your homework suggests. I would urge you to look at similar models from brands such as Mazda, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Kia.

Holden spokesman, Sean Poppit, has good news and says: "If it's as described, we'll fix it under warranty no problems."

You should take it to the Holden dealer for the diagnostic check, and to find out how much Holden is prepared to contribute to the cost of repairs. I would guess because you have been doing the servicing yourself that Holden will offer you a lesser amount. But once you know how much they are prepared to pay you can decide on what to do.

It sounds like you want permission to get the Skoda, so go right ahead.

There's only one option and that is to take it to your Holden dealer and have them assess the problem. The automatic gearbox in the Cruze is troublesome and you're not the only one to have trouble. Holden usually comes to the party in repairing or replacing the gearbox, so ask the dealer to request help from Holden when you take the car in.

It depends on the car, but some get better fuel mileage on the higher octane rating if they are set-up to take advantage of it. The best way to determine if it is better is to run it on each fuel and actually measure the consumption.

If there is no error code showing on the computer — and that's common — you're probably getting better service if they're prepared to drive it in search of the fault instead of waiting for it to break down